07.19.18: I can take a hint

FOR THE PAST few weeks, I’ve tried to develop some “audience participation” hints, asking you to name fonts you hate…and fonts you love. The response has been underwhelming, to say the least. So, no more of that. But I’m disappointed: I though you were a funner group.

Eileen Curry offered the only “font I love” entry: Clearface Gothic:

There is something about Clearface Gothic that I like (as a headline, not necessarily text). To me it is bold, maybe contemporary, easy to read, not too complicated.

Last week, I named Kepler my all-time favorite typeface. Todd Deaton asked: “Do you prefer Kepler for body type or headline?” My answer: Yes…if you’re careful which font you choose. Some Kepler fonts are excellent for display, some for text. There are 168 fonts in the Kepler family, so selecting the correct fonts for display can be difficult. A hint inside a hint here: You don’t need more than seven or eight Kepler fonts for your entire newspaper.

07.12.18: You’re my type

TALK ABOUT yer lead balloon…my suggestion for the past two weeks that you name the typeface you most love to hate didn’t go over very well. Actually, it went over pretty badly: only two of you decided to play. And Algerian was the loser in both cases.

So we’re gonna try a more positive approach: name your absolute favorite typeface! Yep…it’s that simple…unless you also wanna offer a few words about why you like that typeface most.

Mine? Kepler (above). It’s elegant, classic, traditional, with excellent proportions and stroke contrast. Different fonts within the Kepler family can be used for display and text. Very versatile and flexible. If I were forced to use one typeface—ever—it would have to be Kepler.